St. Joseph Parish plans church dedication Saturday

DOWNINGTOWN — Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput will be among clergy to open and dedicate the new church for St. Joseph Parish on Saturday.

The ticketed ceremony is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. There will be a procession to the new church from the old church building across the parking lot of the property in the 300 block of Manor Avenue.

Normal Sunday Masses are open to the public at 7:30, 9 and 10:30 a.m. and noon.

Construction on the church began in March 2012.

The church includes seating for 1,200 people, a larger narthex, a daily Mass chapel, meeting rooms, parking and transepts to allow for future expansion.

The design of the new church is linked to the new building’s stained glass windows, which depict scenes in the life of Jesus Christ, created by George Boos of Munich, Germany. The eight windows were originally in the Most Blessed Sacrament Church in Philadelphia prior to its closure in 2007.

To accommodate for future growth, the parish began planning for expansion in 2007 and kicked off the campaign Cherishing our Past, Embracing the Future to raise funds for the project in February 2010. With help from about 1,171 families, the parish has received pledges of about $5.3 million toward its fundraising goal of $6 million. The project is estimated to cost $9.6 million.

St. Joseph Parish, the second-largest in the archdiocese, includes nearly 4,600 families and more than 15,000 parishioners. Since the capital campaign kicked off in February 2010, more than 500 families — and more than 1,200 people — have joined the parish.

St. Joseph Parish was founded in 1851, and its first church was built in 1852 on Bradford Avenue in the Johnsontown area of Downingtown. St. Joseph opened the church on Manor Avenue in 1971.